Melvin Yong Yik Chye
Singapore
“But with greater autonomy must come stronger support and safeguards, especially for those who may be less equipped to navigate these decisions. At CASE, we strongly believe that consumer empowerment must go hand-in-hand with consumer protection.”
“Thank you, Sir. I have three questions on the balance between punishment and rehabilitation. One, how will schools be guided to balance disciplinary action with counselling and restorative practices? I think the Minister mentioned it. Whether MOE will track recidivism rates to assess if these rehabilitation efforts are effective?”
“Sir, I thank the Minister of State for his reply, and we are heartened. The Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) will be happy to work with MAS on consumer protection measures. For consumers, we often use GIRO when we want to so call, "set and forget", recurring payments.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary have we done a study on the profiles of those PMETs who have been retrenched and also, what are the types of jobs that the market is looking for?”
“Unlike support for persons with disabilities, there is currently no dedicated funding mechanism to incentivise employers to provide workplace accommodations for workers returning to work after serious non-work-related illnesses or medical conditions.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for her answers. I have two questions. First, whether IMDA currently mandates stress testing or simulation of failover systems under peak or adverse conditions and if not, whether such requirements will be introduced following IMDA's review.”
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“Through these features, we hope to encourage our advocates to share deals with other like-minded users and help them compare prices across a wider range of products and promotions. We will also integrate Fuel Kaki, a fuel price comparison website, into Price Kaki. This is but a first step in Price Kaki's evolution into a one-stop platform for all consumers. To combat and mitigate the issue of shrinkflation, I announced last year that CASE would display unit price for items listed on Price Kaki. Today, we have unit pricing displayed on over 1,200 items, including groceries and beauty products. Consumers have told us that this is an effective way to compare prices and found this feature useful. I am happy to announce that CASE will expand unit pricing to more than 6,000 items on Price Kaki by the third quarter this year. But the efforts of CASE alone cannot stop shrinkflation. I call on the Government to mandate the display of unit pricing. With digital price tag displays, I do not see a reason why companies, particularly our supermarkets, cannot do this. In my Budget debate speech last year, I called on major supermarket chains to do their part to cushion the impact of rising prices and support everyday consumers. I am heartened that these major supermarket chains have leaned in to do just that. Last year, NTUC FairPrice provided customers with more than $11.5 million in savings through various discount schemes. FairPrice will extend these schemes for 2023, which is expected to cost the social enterprise an additional $10 million more. FairPrice is also absorbing the additional 1% increase in GST for 500 essential items for the first half of 2023.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Budget, which seeks to chart Singapore's path towards a new era. My speech will touch on how we need to strengthen our social compact for a post-COVID-19 world, specifically, how consumers will need to adapt to a new era of higher for longer inflation to better protect themselves and the need to urgently refresh our social compact to engender a safer workplace for every worker. Sir, let me first declare my interest as President of the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE). Budget 2023 comes on the back of significant global inflationary pressures and at a time where central banks globally have significantly hiked up interest rates to tamper inflation. I am therefore heartened that the Government has recognised inflation concerns and will provide significant cash assistance under the Assurance Package to provide comprehensive help to the majority of Singaporean households. During my house visits over the weekend, many residents told me that they appreciated the various help packages, in particular, the CDC vouchers, which come in very handy as they purchase their daily necessities in the neighbourhood. At CASE, we believe more can be done to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. That is why we launched the Price Kaki mobile application – to allow consumers to compare prices of household essentials, groceries and cooked food and help to stretch their dollar. I am glad that Price Kaki has been well received by consumers. Since its launch, the application has been downloaded more than 130,000 times. With our sizeable community of price transparency advocates, CASE will expand Price Kaki this year by introducing community and gamification features to benefit more consumers.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I have two supplementary questions. I first declare my interest as the executive secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU). I think, globally, we have started seeing commercial trials of AVs ferrying passengers. However, there remains significant concerns over safety risks, especially in high-density environments, such as that in Singapore. As the Government reviews its AV plans, will the Ministry consider a deliberate slowing down of our deployment timelines, especially for our public transport, until such time when the technology is more mature and safer? I would also like to ask if the Ministry can work closely with the unions to prepare and transit our workers in the public transport sector, such as bus captains, taxi drivers, private hire vehicle drivers, in line with the AV deployment timeline. I think we should provide our unions and our workers sufficient time to adjust and to adapt to a driverless world.”
“I would like to provide two suggestions: (a) regularly review and remove courses and training providers that have poor take-up rates and poor reviews; and (b) to on-board courses that support Singaporeans who work remotely. Let me elaborate. First, we need to regularly review and remove courses that have poor enrolment figures to free up funding for courses that Singaporeans actually need and want. We should also regularly review training providers for the conduct of their SSG-funded courses and the effectiveness of these courses. I would like to ask how often are SSG-funded courses subject to review. What is the average number of courses that had their funding status removed due to poor sign-ups? Does SSG require and take into consideration participants' post-course feedback? I feel that only by holding courses and training providers to a high bar can we attract more Singaporeans to use their SkillsFuture Credits purposefully for training. Sir, we also need to change the way we fund courses to better support Singaporeans who work remotely. The Work-From-Anywhere trend has meant that more Singaporeans are working remotely even if the work is done for a local company. We should move away from funding classes that are held in-person and explore extending more funding to online courses. Let us support all Singaporeans, regardless of where they are based in their lifelong learning journey. Sir, the proposed amendments will help in deterring abuse and misrepresentation of SSG funding and schemes. As we work to improve the governance of our lifelong learning funding, we should also ensure that we support the changing aspirations of Singaporeans, as we continue to encourage every Singaporean to be a lifelong learner. With that, I support the two Bills.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the two Bills which seek to strengthen the regulatory powers of the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency (SSG) to deter the abuse and misrepresentation of SSG funding and schemes. However, I have a few questions and some suggestions. In a recent speech at the Singapore Perspectives 2023 Conference, the Minister for Education highlighted how we needed to better support Singaporeans in their lifelong learning ambitions. I cannot agree more. Lifelong learning ensures that our workforce stays productive, adapts to fast-changing global and industrial changes and becomes more resilient in both employment and employability. Singapore's movement towards lifelong learning must be underpinned by assurance that our training institutions are credible. I therefore support the proposals in the Bills to strengthen SSG's funding and schemes which will serve to enhance the credibility of adult learning programmes as a whole. However, given the enhanced powers of SSG officers to enter premises, search for and seize documents, and to conduct interviews, I would like to ask if the proposed new powers are to be given to all SSG officers. What type of training would be provided to those officers who are assigned these powers, and what sort of safeguards will be put in place to ensure that these new powers will be used appropriately and not be abused? When entering a premise against the will of the premise owners, the officers may face hostile resistance. Officers should therefore be adequately trained to exercise their new powers and the requisite rules of engagement. Mr Speaker, beyond strengthening our regulatory framework to deter fraud, we also need to ensure that SSG-funded courses adequately support Singaporeans' changing aspirations.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have two questions for the Minister for Transport. First, given the heightened risk profile of international travellers, would Singapore consider temporarily tightening the mask-wearing policy to require masks to be worn on board all flights entering Singapore, so that we can reduce the risk of in-flight COVID-19 contamination? I think we all believe that masks act as the first line of defence against the spread of the virus. Second, as Minister Ong mentioned earlier, COVID-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool. Airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option. Would Singapore consider stepping up sampling wastewater taken from international aircraft entering Singapore to track any emerging new variants?”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his further clarifications. We are about three months into the heightened safety period. Can the Senior Minister of State share if this period and the measures have helped to improve the workplace safety situation across the various industries and are there any plans to extend the heightened safety period beyond 28 February 2023?”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. I have two supplementary questions. Since the introduction of the Heightened Safety Period from 1 September this year, how many CEOs and Directors were made accountable for serious workplace safety breaches, what was the highest penalty imposed and if the ACOP had been used to penalise any Director thus far? Two, as part of the Heightened Safety Period measures, how many companies had volunteered for the StartSAFE programme that the Senior Minister of State mentioned, which I believe is offered free to companies? Are there any plans to reach out to more companies, in particular SMEs, to take up this programme?”
“Thank you, Sir. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply and also the assurance given. I declare my interest. I am the Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union. I could see that the numbers have gradually come down. But I think the recent cases of abuse are quite a concern. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether there are any plans to review the penalties, given that the last time the penalties were updated was quite a number of years ago.”
“Pornography is often embedded in these games and many games do glorify violence and sexual exploitation. In fact, a quick online search will surface many stories about how violence towards women is encouraged amongst gamers who hide under the cover of anonymity. For example, in the game "The Sims Online", a "cyber-brothel" was developed by a 17-year-old boy using the game alias "Evangeline" and customers paid sim-money for cybersex by the minute. It was later reported that his account was cancelled, but no legal action was taken against him. Sir, online games have evolved from being single player, single console activities to massively multiplayer online interactions, which often integrates playing with networking to build a huge online community. As such, many children unwittingly interact with strangers for the first time in these gaming platforms, raising significantly their online safety risk. I really hope that the Ministry can include regulation of the online gaming space in the next review of the code of practice. Sir, the business models of social media services hinge on capturing our attention span. The longer we spend on the site, the more advertisements they can serve and the more revenue they can generate. Children, unlike adults, cannot make this trade-off conscientiously and they do not understand the potential unknown side effects from being hooked onto these social media sites. We must, therefore, strive to protect them and introduce speed humps to manage their consumption of such online content. We must also do all we can to stop and prevent online bullying, which can cause real and sometimes deadly, real-world consequences. With that, I support the Bill.”
“Excessive screen time has been linked to poor development outcomes and we must ensure that our very young do not get hooked onto the never-ending spiral of scrolling mindlessly through social media content. Sir, in addition to introducing speed humps to control online media consumption by our children, we must also do all we can to tackle online bullying that many children face. According to statistics from MOE, the number of bullying incidents reported each year to schools has remained low, at about two incidents per 1,000 Primary school pupils and five incidents per 1,000 Secondary school pupils. I wonder if these figures included online bullying. In August 2022, a video emerged on social media showing three teenage girls beating up another girl in a carpark. For every such incident that goes viral, how many more fly undetected under the radar? What about more subtle, but no less harmful, forms of online bullying, such as posting hateful and "troll" comments among peers? Bullying, including online bullying, impacts the mental health of our children and we need to do all we can to tackle this. I hope that the Ministry can review the proposed code of practice and allow users to flag comments or posts that can be deemed as bullying behaviour, so that such harmful content can be addressed promptly. Beyond social media sites, online bullying behaviour is prevalent in online games, too. As advisor to the Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association, this is an area that I am greatly concerned about, as our children tend to treat what happens in online games very seriously. A key concern about the popularity of video games is that so much of the content is hypersexualised.”
“Will the Ministry consider working with the key OCS providers to establish such a task force in Singapore? Mr Deputy Speaker, the second half of my speech deals with the need to protect our children from harmful online content. Children today have grown up with the Internet, and online media is a key part of their daily lives. According to various research, social media and other online media have a direct impact on our children. The content that our children see online shapes the way they think and influences how they perceive themselves and others. Despite many social media services having minimum age limits for new account sign-ups, many young children do have a social media account. Some even have two accounts! One for their parents to see, and another for their friends which, typically, includes content deemed not suitable for the parents. Against such a backdrop, we must strive to protect our children when they are at an impressionable age and ensure that they have a safe space when they access the Internet and use social media services. For our vulnerable young children, I hope that companies can put in place speed humps to slow down their use of the social media services. We can do so in two ways. First, I call for mandatory age verification to be done for all new sign-ups, to ensure that new accounts being created comply with the terms of use set out by the social media service. While I note that the draft code of practice proposes that the services must minimise users' exposure to harmful content through measures, such as through content moderation measures, these are imperfect and many seemingly innocuous posts can end up being harmful to the very young. Second, we should introduce mandatory screen times for very young children.”
“The technology to remove content automatically and fast already exists and I hope that the social media sites can channel this technology beyond policing copyrighted content and focus also on what is deemed as socially harmful content. However, just as an OCS provider can use technology to aid enforcement, consumers can use technology, too, to circumvent blocked content. In cases where an OCS provider disables access by Singapore users to a harmful content, it can still be easily accessible with a simple subscription to a VPN service. I would like to ask how is the Ministry planning to address this gap. I would also like to ask how fast must an OCS provider comply with a directive issued by IMDA under this Bill. I note that the current draft Code of Practice for Online Safety for Designated Social Media Services does not specify a timeline for compliance. I understand that in some of the European countries, the OCS provider is required to comply with a take-down notice within a stipulated time. I am, therefore, curious to know what are the reasons behind the omission of a timeline to comply with the IMDA directive. The speed at which a video of the 2019 New Zealand mosque shooting spread across social media platforms has demonstrated yet again that tech companies are still struggling to control content, especially from popular social media services that offer livestreaming of events. I read that, in Germany, social media companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube, are part of a self-regulatory task force committed to removing harmful content quickly. These companies have introduced or improved internal reporting mechanisms and employed local experts to undertake supervision of content.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which proposes new measures to tackle harmful content on online services accessible to users in Singapore. Sir, the Bill proposes a wide range of measures to improve online safety of Internet users in Singapore, combat harmful content and empower users with information and tools to protect themselves from content which is harmful or detrimental to their well-being. In my speech today, I will touch on how we need to protect our most vulnerable groups and suggest ways that we can further enhance protection, particularly for children. Sir, it is a fact that Internet users in Singapore are not immune from harmful online content. And we all know that content that is racially offensive, that promotes violence against individuals or certain groups and those that try to cause divisions among racial and religious groups, can have a destabilising effect on our society. In her opening speech, the Minister also mentioned various engagement sessions that showed the growing public concerns amongst Singaporeans with regard to online safety. The proposed measures under this Bill are, therefore, timely, as it will require online communication service (OCS) providers to be regulated and to remove harmful online content when asked to do so. Actually, I would argue that legislation has become necessary because the OCS providers have failed to properly self-regulate and remove harmful content from being posted on their platforms. Today, many, if not all, OCS providers have a robust algorithm that removes copyrighted content almost instantaneously.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I have two supplementary questions. First, given that the working conditions for our security officers do result in them being susceptible to abuse, can MHA revisit my suggestion to have body-worn cameras mandated for certain higher-risk frontline security officers while they are on duty? As the Minister of State has alluded to in her reply, body-worn cameras have proven to reduce incidences of abuse against the wearer and we should extend this protection to more security officers to enhance their safety. Second, on reviewing the penalties under PSIA, I would like to ask when would the next review be conducted, although I know it has just been implemented earlier this year. The union would, certainly, like to participate in the next review.”
“Workers too should also do their part to go for regular health screenings, partake in regular exercise and eat healthily so as to remain healthy, productive and employable. Lastly, I hope that the next review of Healthier SG will include a strong focus on preventative mental healthcare. With that, I support the Motion.”
“I therefore fully agree with the White Paper that taking a preventative approach in mental health is aligned with the objectives of Healthier SG and I note that the scope of Healthier SG will eventually widen and include other complex chronic conditions such as mental health conditions. I would just like to ask the Minister when that will be. Could we consider improving access to mental healthcare support to all Singaporeans by increasing the current psychiatrist-to-population ratio to 10 per 100,000 residents, similar to other countries such as the United States and Australia? We should also encourage Singaporeans to have a dedicated counsellor or psychologist, similar to how we are encouraging everyone to have a regular family doctor, to serve as their first point of contact for their mental health. The bottom line is that mental health conditions should be given the same priority as all other chronic illnesses and it is in everyone's interest – employers, workers and the Government – to ensure that we have a mentally healthy workforce. I hope that MOH and the Inter-agency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-being can prioritise the roll-out of preventative mental healthcare for the next review of Healthier SG. Sir, to conclude, it is no secret that our health affects the way we work and our work affects our health. While the strategies outlined in the White Paper on Building a Healthier SG will help us achieve a higher quality, affordable and convenient healthcare ecosystem, we can all lean in and do more. I encourage employers to play their part in tackling job-specific chronic illnesses at the workplace and putting in place a structured healthy workplace programme for their workers.”
“For example, the National Taxi Association, the National Private Hire Vehicles Association and the NTUC's Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit have been working with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to encourage gig economy workers to go for quarterly health screening and health coaching sessions, to get active and to stay in shape. Third, companies with staff canteens can promote healthier eating options. The canteens operated by the National Transport Workers' Union have been offering brown rice at subsidised rates, to encourage our public transport workers to take up this healthier option. Since the campaign started, more than 100,000 plates have been taken up by our public transport workers. Instead of a sugar tax, the canteens rolled out promotional discounted prices for our kopi o kosong and teh o kosong to encourage workers to cut down on their sugar intake. We are working with HPB next on a low salt campaign for our public transport workers. I hope that all companies with staff canteens can follow suit and nudge their workers towards a healthier diet. Mr Deputy Speaker, in addition to better physical health outcomes, today's debate would not be complete if we do not consider the need for better mental health outcomes too. According to a 2021 study by the Institute of Mental Health, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in mental health issues in Singapore. Our workers are feeling the stress acutely. A 2021 survey by software company Oracle found that nearly seven in 10 residents in Singapore said that 2021 was the most stressful year at work. More than half of respondents said that they were struggling with their workplace mental health.”
“First, employers must put in place a work environment that prevents job-specific chronic illnesses from forming and to adapt the workplace and work processes to help workers who are suffering from chronic illnesses, in particular, our mature workers. According to a 2017 Swedish study, which examined the challenges involved in encouraging an ageing workforce to continue working productively, the researchers found that workers with chronic conditions can continue to work meaningfully by changing tasks and having proper physical aids to assist them. However, the study also observed that these changes often come at the workers' initiative, rather than the employer proactively doing so. As our population and workforce ages, employers must be cognisant on how to adapt the work environment to help their workers remain productive. Sir, as we shift away from transactional and episodic care, employers should also shift away from requiring medical certificates and provide workers some sick leave without MC. This will reduce the need to visit the doctor just to get an MC and reduce medical bills too. While some employers are already doing this – for example, workers in our healthcare clusters are given up to three days of non-MC sick leave – I urge all employers to do the same. Second, all employers should work with their insurers and third-party administrators to include more Healthier SG clinics on their panels and offer structured health screenings and vaccinations for their workers. This benefit should also be provided to all workers, including those in the gig economy. The Labour Movement has been pushing for this as early detection and intervention can help prevent chronic illnesses and infection of diseases.”
“This relationship between certain job roles and chronic health conditions is unlikely to be unique to the United States. The Labour Movement is therefore heartened that Healthier SG will help to make healthcare more affordable through: one, subsidies on health screenings and vaccinations; two, waiver of the co-payment requirement when using MediSave for chronic care management; and three, introduction of the new Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) drug subsidy tier for a whitelist of chronic disease management drugs to ensure that medications for chronic illnesses are made affordable. Beyond general chronic illnesses that Singaporeans are susceptible to, we should also consider whether certain types of work predispose us to certain chronic illnesses. As I have alluded to earlier, spending long hours sitting in front of the computer or in a driver's seat, among many other repetitive job tasks, can result in various forms of chronic illnesses. Examples include arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and hypertension. What can we do about this? Mr Deputy Speaker, we spend most of our adult lives at work and research has shown a strong correlation between our work and overall well-being. Employers therefore must do their part to mitigate job-specific chronic illnesses faced by their workers. They can do so in three ways: one, design the work environment to prevent chronic illnesses from forming; two, provide structured health screenings at the workplace, targeting job-specific chronic illnesses; and three, provide healthier eating options within the workplace. Let me elaborate.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I stand in support of the Motion, which seeks to empower individuals to take charge of our own health and wellness and help Singaporeans live longer and healthier lives. The strategies proposed within the White Paper on Building a Healthier SG provide significant steps in the right direction to provide better quality healthcare in a more affordable and convenient manner. In my speech, I will talk about how Healthier SG will benefit our workers who work hard, work long hours and more often than not, also work in stressful environments and offer suggestions on areas where we can and should do more. Let me start by talking about the healthcare challenges that our workers face and how employers can play their part to help foster a healthier workplace. During the NTUC's recent #EveryWorkerMatters Conversation, many workers raised concerns about the steady creep in healthcare costs. Concerns were understandably more pronounced among our mature workers, who are deeply worried about being able to afford treatments for their chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Employers too are affected by the rise in healthcare costs for their ageing workforce as they have to spend more for their employees' medical benefits. An unhealthy workforce also reduces workplace productivity. According to the United States' Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, some job roles can result in workers becoming more susceptible to chronic illnesses. For example, four out of the 10 most costly health conditions for US employers, which include chest pains, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart attack, could be attributed to work stress and physical inactivity caused by prolonged hours of sitting at the work desk.”
“Sir, I thank Senior Minister of State Dr Janil Puthucheary for his reply. I have one supplementary question. I think as the Senior Minister of State has pointed out, parents are the first influencers for our children and can significantly affect the way their children's attitudes towards all these social media platforms form. Sir, I would like to ask if IMDA can explore creating parents' specific social media literacy programmes to train them on how to help their child navigate the various social media platforms. I am certain this will help parents, equip them with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to mitigate any potential harm that these social media may pose to our children.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I have one supplementary question. First, let me state that the Labour Movement is heartened to hear about the Government's commitment to continue promoting flexible work arrangements. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown all of us that a variety of flexible work arrangements, once thought impossible, can work. To better understand the impact of a four-day work week, would the Ministry be open to conducting a small-scale trial among some of its employees or perhaps within segments of the Public Service? This way, we can better understand and study the pros and cons, benefits and challenges. For example, how a reduced work week can possibly better facilitate and encourage employees' continual training and upskilling because setting aside one day a week for training and upskilling can be a win for both workers and the companies. And with better work-life balance, perhaps, a win also for Singapore, with possibly more babies.”
“We should seriously consider establishing a national DNA registry where every Singaporean and resident would be required to log our DNA sequence. Beyond identifying criminals, a DNA registry can also be helpful in identifying missing victims or in an event with mass casualties. From a victim's point-of-view, when he is in grave danger and in need of urgent help, every second counts. To the family of a victim in a homicide case, every possible tool to help bring the assailant to justice counts. To deter a potential criminal, increasing his risk of being caught counts. Madam, in conclusion, the proposed amendments to the Registration of Criminals Act will allow the Police to enhance the collection and use of DNA and other identifying information. However, I believe there is space for us to do more – to be able to collect DNA from more people and for more uses beyond just identifying criminals. I also hope that, one day, we could have a national DNA registry as an added tool in our Police's crime-solving arsenal. Madam, I support the Bill.”
“The amendments will not only allow DNA information to be used to identify a deceased person and for any investigations and inquiries into a death but will also allow for the identification of an individual who might be unable to identify himself and allow the Police to assist him. I would like to ask the Minister of State how the revised DNA collection regime would compare with that of other countries. How do we rank in terms of comprehensiveness of DNA and non-DNA data collection? If there are other countries that allow the collection of DNA for a wider array of crimes, should we not follow suit? I believe the Minister of State mentioned that South Australia collects DNA information for all imprisonable offences while England collects DNA information for imprisonable offences and some non- imprisonable offences. Why are we then limiting the tools that can help our Police officers obtain an investigation breakthrough and potentially solve a difficult crime? In addition to the Bill's provisions to safeguard the data of DNA and non-DNA identifying information, we also need to ensure that the DNA samples themselves are subject to proper storage and disposal. I would like to ask how do our law enforcement agencies collect DNA samples, how long do they store them for and how are they disposed? In fact, why is there a need to keep the DNA sample once it has been processed, profiled and recorded? Lastly, Mdm Deputy Speaker, while I note that the intent of today's Bill is to debate the circumstances in which our law enforcement agencies can collect DNA and non-DNA identifying information, I would like to call for a more fundamental review on whether we should do more than just limit DNA collection only to criminals.”
“Thank you, Mdm Deputy Speaker. I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to enhance DNA collection by our law enforcement agencies, as this will allow our Police officers to better carry out their duties and ensure the safety and security of Singapore and Singaporeans while also ensuring that sufficient safeguards for personal data are in place. However, I have a few questions and suggestions. Madam, let me start by stating that we must not underestimate the importance of data collection during the course of Police work. As a former Police officer with 20 years of working closely with frontline policing and investigation officers, I know first-hand how vital the collection of key identifying information, such as DNA and fingerprints, is for the purpose of solving crimes. In her Second Reading speech, the Minister of State had given us some examples of past cases that had been solved via DNA analysis. DNA analysis is but a single tool in the Police's toolbox of crime-solving methods, which include non-DNA identifying information, CCTV analytics and ground interviews. I, therefore, fully support the proposal to expand the scope of crimes where DNA and other identifying information can be collected so as to help the Police solve crimes more efficiently and more effectively. Madam, policing work is stressful and our Police officers often have to race against the clock to solve cases. The Bill proposes to expand the prescribed uses of the DNA information collected. I welcome this move as this will help our Police officers solve cases faster.”
“Sir, our workers are an important pillar of our economy and they are vital to the continued success of our Singapore story. Every Worker Matters. Every Life Matters. Let us do what is RIGHT and ensure that our workers can go home safely at the end of every workday. [Applause.]”
“Body-worn cameras not only facilitates near-miss reporting and aids in post-incident investigations, but they also allow workers to be more conscious of their actions and behaviour at the worksite. The cost of such technologies, however, can be prohibitive and it takes an enlightened management, usually large multinationals, to invest in them. We should help our SMEs adopt such technologies to improve their WSH outcomes. MOM currently has the Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSHI), a department that focuses on WSH trends and partners with stakeholders in the technology ecosystem to improve WSH outcomes. I hope MOM can elevate the WSH Institute into a national WSH Centre of Excellence. The new centre should focus on lowering the adoption cost of new workplace safety technologies through demand aggregation and facilitate the deployment of such technologies in our SMEs. It is imperative that we do so as smaller companies cannot possibly hope to emulate the strong WSH practices of large companies without proper support. Government procurement can also lead by example and favour companies that adopt WSH technology as part of the tender bid. Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to conclude by reiterating my numerous calls over the years for every company to have a WSH representative, regardless of size and industry. This is already practised in Sweden today and we should implement this in Singapore too. Like the internal audit functions that many companies have, having a dedicated WSH representative will ensure that sufficient attention is dedicated to WSH issues, no matter how big or small. I therefore, sincerely hope that the MOM will consider my numerous proposals on this issue: make every company have a mandatory WSH representative.”
“If employers are pushing our workers to quite literally work towards their deaths, then we must surely act to stop this. Next, buy-in from higher management is vital if we truly want WSH to be pervasive at the workplace. The culture at the top shapes practices on the ground. In Australia, it is a legal requirement for company directors and business owners to ensure employees’ safety at the workplace. Company directors have been held liable for fatalities, such as a recent case in June 2020, where two directors of the Brisbane Auto Recycling Proprietary Limited were sentenced to jail when a worker was killed by a forklift operated by an unlicensed operator. MOM is developing the Approved Code of Practice for Company Director’s WSH Duties. I would like to ask the Minister for an update – when will the Code be ready? Like Australia, we should seriously consider legislating the Code so that it will have legislative “teeth”. The bottom line is that company directors must not only be aware, but also act on their WSH roles and responsibilities. Lastly, we should leverage technology, a key enabler to detect and prevent workplace accidents. Today, workplace safety technology has matured to a level that is possible to predict the risk of workplace accidents. For example, sensors and wearables can alert management when a worker deviates into a restricted area, or when a worker slips, trips, or falls, allowing medical help to be dispatched quickly. Big data and predictive analytics provide the potential of predicting accidents before they even happen. Some companies have already started to trial body-worn cameras for their workers. This is something that we should pursue especially in high-risk worksites.”
“We should strive to replicate this model of tripartite collaboration in other industries. Beyond doing one-off safety inspections, I hope that MOM will also regularly reinspect companies with poor WSH performance to ensure that sufficient safety measures have been implemented and prevent these companies from "relapsing" into poor WSH practices. Third, workers should be properly geared at the workplace so that their safety is not compromised. This means companies must ensure that the work environment is safe and their workers are equipped with the proper safety equipment and be trained and certified to perform the work activity. I therefore urge MOM to make WSH training mandatory for all workers in high-risk sectors. NTUC LearningHub stands ready to offer training courses to all workers so that they can continually refresh their WSH knowledge. Safety is a collective mindset. Beyond ensuring workers are well trained, we need also to ensure that supervisors and management are geared with the right WSH mindset. We can train someone to be the best lifting supervisor, but if his management does not appreciate the dangers involved, his hands could be tied if critical resources are not deployed for his safety needs. In a recent interview with The Straits Times on 29 July, Minister Tan See Leng said that most workers who died at the workplace in the last few months were experienced staff and a factor driving up workplace fatalities involved employers pushing staff to catch up on the backlog of work. This just goes to show that even the most experienced of workers can fall victim if tiredness seeps in and causes a momentary lapse in concentration. I would like to call for minimum rest hours for workers working in high-risk sectors to be legislated.”
“We must therefore provide a better whistle-blowing channel – one that ensures the anonymity of whistle-blowers. We should make near-miss reporting more prevalent in the industry, as these are early warning signs of accidents to come. We must also allow anyone, including members of public, to report unsafe workplace practices when they see them. In 2016, The New Paper reported how Mr Gusharen Singh snapped pictures of safety lapses at worksites and public spaces and alerted MOM through the Snap@MOM crowdsourcing app. How can we revive such practices? Could we consider leveraging the OneService mobile application to allow anyone to report unsafe work practices? After all, everyone has a part to play when it comes to safer workplaces. Next, I hope that MOM can partner the unions to supplement their routine inspections. Since 2019, NTUC has been training our union leaders on WSH. Today, more than 1,000 union leaders have completed the courses. MOM could consider sharing the data received from feedback channels with NTUC and our union leaders can partner MOM in stepping up safety inspections at these companies. Having union leaders will add an element of moral suasion to MOM's inspections and help convince workers and supervisors alike to pay more attention to workplace safety. In the public transport sector, the National Transport Workers' Union initiated the Rail Industry Safety and Health Community of Practice to enhance safety for our rail workers. Earlier this year, the union, together with LTA and the public transport operators, launched the Safety Champions initiative to empower frontline transport workers to proactively surface feedback and areas for improvement to enhance safety at the workplace.”
“The right to a safe workplace is fundamental, sacred and we must do all we can to uphold this. Before I suggest how we can do better, let me first acknowledge what MOM has done in recent months to address the rise in workplace fatalities and injuries. It is important to acknowledge that MOM has: one, increased the number of safety inspections; two, doubled the maximum composition fine for offences observed during inspections; three, required companies that have been issued stop-work orders or have had workers sustained major injuries to engage external auditors to review their WSH practices; and four, is developing an Approved Code of Practice for Company Directors' WSH Duties. While these are indeed important measures, the Government's actions alone are not enough. The Labour Movement, therefore, proposes five action areas to further improve WSH practices: one, establish safe and easy-to-use Reporting channels; two, partner the unions to enhance safety Inspections; three, step up safety Gearing of our workers; four, mandate Higher management's commitment to safety; and five, leverage Technology to enhance workplace safety. Together, they make up the acronym RIGHT, R-I-G-H-T. Let me elaborate. First, we must establish safe and easy-to-use reporting channels for anyone to report unsafe workplace practices. MOM's investigations into workplace fatalities often find that unsafe, unsupervised practices had been ongoing for a period of time. Those at the workplace would sometimes even say that is "normal practice". In some cases, workers would tell us that the unsafe practices had been escalated to their supervisors, but nothing was done. Tragically, the inaction can lead to someone dying from a preventable accident.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, let me start by saying that it pains me to have to speak today on prioritising the safety of every worker. In Singapore, where we pride ourselves on being efficient and attentive in all that we do, we certainly need to do more and do better in workplace safety and health, or WSH. Sir, it is alarming how the COVID-19 pandemic has seem to set our WSH practices back. Pre-COVID-19, we were witnessing a downward trend for workplace fatalities, where the workplace fatality rate had dropped from 1.9 per 100,000 workers in 2016, to 1.1 per 100,000 workers in 2019. But COVID-19 seems to have undone all the hard work and strides that we have made. In 2021, we saw a spike in workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities, as companies rushed to clear the backlog of work caused by the pandemic. Workers, who were quarantined for varying periods, returned to new worksite layouts, unfamiliar team members and constantly changing safe management measures at their worksites. Measures meant to keep them safe from the COVID-19 virus might have unwittingly raised the risk of an accident happening. The tripartite partners recognised this and encouraged employers to conduct Safety Time-outs four times in the past 18 months – in December 2020, February and June 2021, and most recently in May this year. While I am sure that the numerous Safety Time-outs have helped companies to re-evaluate their WSH practices and prevented an even sharper rise in workplace fatalities, the unfortunate truth is that workplace accidents, injuries and fatalities are still occurring at an alarming rate. The Labour Movement is deeply concerned – and rightfully so. Every life lost is one too many. Injuries sustained because of a workplace accident can also have lifelong debilitating effects.”
“Sir, the proposed amendments to the Adoption of Children Act are vital to ensure that more vulnerable children have access to adoption and are able to receive the best opportunity to grow up in a safe, stable and loving family. As we enhance the Act to improve the adoption processes and weed out undesirable behaviour within the industry, I also hope that more Singaporeans will consider fostering and adopting children who are in need of a loving family. Sir, I support the Bill.”
“I would like to propose for MSF to gazette in subsidiary legislation the permissible fees charged by adoption agencies and review these fees regularly, in consultation with the industry, to ensure that the fees are both reasonable and updated. Simply put, we can, and must, end the abhorrent practice of giving babies to the highest bidder. Lastly, I hope that more Singaporeans can consider becoming foster parents to vulnerable children and young persons who are in need of a loving home environment. According to MSF data, the number of children and young persons in foster care has remained stable at about 540, in the past three years. Can MSF provide an update on its efforts to encourage more families to step forward to become foster parents? Various research papers and anecdotal stories posted online have documented the multitude of challenges involved in fostering. It can, indeed, be stressful to be foster parents. In addition to the traditional stressors of caregiving, foster parents must build rapport with the child, who often might come from a troubled background and, therefore, finds it difficult to trust his new caregivers. Some foster parents have shared that they sometimes received a late call-up to foster a child, and this would spark a last-minute shopping rush for clothes and essential items and to make urgent childcare arrangements. To alleviate these challenges, can the Ministry consider providing foster parents with additional childcare leave, beyond what are already provided for under the Child Development Co-Savings Act and the Employment Act?”
“In cases where the birth parent was found to have intentionally caused grievous physical hurt or mental trauma to the child, it is vital that we do all we can to help the child get a clean break from the cycle of abuse. Adoptive parents, too, should be protected from harassment and be given a safe and conducive environment to care for their adopted child. Next, I will touch on deterring undesirable behaviours in the adoption sector. Sir, I welcome the Bill's proposal to introduce offences to protect the welfare of the children identified for adoption and to ensure the integrity of adoption processes and practices in Singapore. Specifically, the Bill proposes to make adoption practices more transparent by making clear what are allowable adoption-related payments and to require all adoption agencies to clearly publish information on their fees. But is this sufficient to combat existing unscrupulous practices in the adoption sector? A recent news report published by CNA, followed the story of an adoptive parent who tried to adopt a newborn in Singapore four years ago, but was forced to return the baby to the birth parent after refusing to pay questionable additional fees to the birth parent and the adoption agency. Is this a prevalent practice in Singapore, where adoptive children are being, and I quote, "sold as merchandise" to the highest bidder? How many such cases have MSF come across in the past five years? Can MSF, therefore, consider regulating the fees charged by adoption agencies in Singapore? While I understand that adoption agencies currently charge different rates due to a variety of reasons, such as childbirth expenses, we should rein in adoption agencies that try to profiteer from adoptive parents.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to better protect the welfare of children identified for adoption. According to data from MSF, there is an average of 400 adoptions a year in Singapore. While this number is not large, each and every adoption could mean a better future for the child, especially if the birth parents are unable or unsuited to raise the child properly. I, therefore, support the extensive proposals to enhance our local adoption laws and practices. However, I have a few clarifications and suggestions. Let me first start by speaking about children in foster care. Sir, there are many children currently in foster care, or who have been in a children's home for years, who would benefit from being adopted into a caring and stable family. However, couples who wish to adopt such children face roadblocks when the child's birth parents do not consent to the adoption. To address this issue, the Bill makes clearer the proposed thresholds and circumstances and specifies more grounds, under which the Courts will allow the adoption to proceed without the birth parents' consent. However, the issue of the Courts dispensing with the consent of birth parents in the adoption process is not new, as there are prevailing case law examples. I would like to ask if any of the proposed provisions go against prevailing case law, and, if so, what are the reasons for this. I would also like to ask what will be the protections given to the adopted child and the adoptive family, to prevent birth parents who did not provide their consent, from harassing the family?”
“Mr Speaker, in conclusion, the White Paper on Women's Development marks an important milestone in Singapore's never-ending journey towards ensuring an equal and inclusive society. As a community, we can do more to support the aspirations of our Singaporean women to have both a fulfilling family life and a rewarding career. Sir, I support the Motion.”
“However, Mercer's 2020 Worldwide Survey on International Assignment Policies and Practices found that only 20% of the global expatriate workforce is made up of women. This disconnect between aspiration and reality is concerning. In many companies, going on international assignments and having extensive global experience is a precondition to reach senior management levels. A persistently low participation rate of women in international assignments will, ultimately, affect gender equality at the leadership level. Good mentorship is, therefore, vital to provide women with the assurance to venture overseas for their postings. One good example can be found in the Financial Women's Association (FWA). FWA has a deep pool of successful women in the financial industry who contribute their time by mentoring younger women in the sector. Many of FWA's mentors have gone through overseas stints and their mentees are able to approach them for advice on how to overcome challenges and flourish from such opportunities. I hope that with EDB's support, more professional associations and industry partners will create such mentorship programmes to help our millennial women professionals go global. Finally, regardless of whether they are working at home, close to home, or far away from home, we need to tackle the discrimination faced by pregnant women professionals. MOM is in the process of enshrining the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) into legislation and I hope that the Act will state unequivocally that employers cannot penalise female employees or reject a perfectly qualified jobseeker simply based on pregnancy.”
“One good example of a self-help group is Project Cookoh, a community effort that helps housewives in Jalan Kukoh start their own home-based business. Project Cookoh mentors mumpreneurs, subsidises the cost of cooking classes and provides an online platform to help the women market their products. We plan to start a similar programme in Radin Mas later this year. To help more aspiring mumpreneurs, I hope the Government can introduce a Home-based Business Grant to help defray the start-up cost of equipment and tie up with schools, such as SHATEC, to provide subsidised training courses for baking, cooking and safe food preparation, for example. Second, I believe we can do more to help women find jobs that are closer to home, so that they can better balance their work and role as a caregiver. In Radin Mas, we partnered the Singapore Manufacturing Federation to launch the Jobs Closer to Home programme in 2021, to help women with caregiving responsibilities find jobs that are within five kilometres of the constituency, or a few bus stops away from home. This has been particularly helpful for single mothers, as they often hesitate to take on jobs in locations that require long travel time. I hope that the Government, through our Community Development Councils and working with the NTUC, can scale the Jobs Closer to Home programme nationally and help employers tap into a ready pool of women who wish to work for companies that are based near their homes. Third, let us better support the aspirations of our millennial women. According to a survey conducted by PWC, 71% of millennial women aspire to take on a global role.”
“Many of them are rightfully ambitious and want to shine on the global stage, but do we have the right structures in place to support their aspirations? To address these challenges, I will focus my suggestions on three areas: jobs at home, jobs closer to home and jobs away from home. First, let us provide better support to women, especially those with caregiving responsibilities, who wish to continue working from home. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that it is possible for some categories of workers to telecommute full-time. I am, therefore, heartened that the Government has committed to entrenching FWAs as a workplace norm and to introduce new Tripartite Guidelines on FWAs by 2024 to ensure that employers consider FWA requests fairly and properly. But we can, and should, accelerate the implementation timeline. While I understand that it takes time to engage the industry and ensure that there is consensus on the Tripartite Guidelines, we should strike when the iron is hot – in Chinese, we call this 打铁趁热 – and roll out the guidelines when many employers are still fresh from having the majority of their workforce telecommuting. We should also support the aspirations of enterprising women who start home-based businesses to supplement their household income, while being a full-time caregiver or homemaker. During my house visits, I have met many enterprising "mumpreneurs" in Radin Mas who have started their festive cookie businesses, bakers who specialise in customised cake designs, and one woman who even started her own trading company right from the comfort of her own living room! I hope that the Government, trade associations and self-help groups can provide better support to help aspiring home-based entrepreneurs kickstart and grow their businesses.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the recommendations made in the White Paper on Women's Development. Many Members of the House are speaking today on this very important topic and I will focus my speech on jobs. Specifically, the need to provide women with equal opportunities at the workplace, so that we can support their aspirations to have both a fulfilling family life and a rewarding career. Let me start by laying out the challenges faced by women at the workplace. Women face headwinds at every stage of their professional careers. Early on, while studying and choosing which career path to take, some hesitate to jump into male-dominated sectors, such as those in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries. Women also face challenges when they find out that they are expecting a child. Some tell me that they worry about being penalised in their appraisals when they go on maternity leave. Others shared with me that they had to suspend their job search because employers do not seem to want to hire someone who will need to take months off soon after being employed. For mothers who chose to leave the corporate world temporarily to care for their children and are looking to return to work, it can be daunting to return to a workplace that has changed significantly in the time that they were away. Many women also struggle to find opportunities to earn additional income while being a full-time homemaker or primary caregiver to their children and their elderly parents. For our young millennials, they have a vastly different outlook on what work-life harmony is, as they are more educated and have higher levels of career confidence.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I have one supplementary question. The Consumers Association of Singapore is concerned with the risk posed by the BNPL scheme, especially when the consumer is unable to service the payment instalments. So, while I can understand that the Government needs time to study the evolving BNPL landscape and consider its regulatory approach, I would like to ask will MAS consider including advertising curbs in the proposed code that it is studying right now, similar to that which is imposed on cryptocurrency. This is so as to prevent BNPL schemes from preying on impressionable youths.”
“Mr Chairman, quality preschool education is vital in allowing our children to achieve their fullest potential in life. How often does the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) review the pedagogies of our early childhood curriculum? What are the areas that ECDA will focus on in the coming years to further improve the quality of our early childhood education? Beyond curriculum, can MSF share what are its efforts to build the key competencies of our preschool teachers? Has there been an increase in attrition among local preschool teachers? Sir, the recent surge in Omicron infections has also left many preschools struggling to cope and our teachers grappling with an unprecedented workload. One teacher told me she is tired, but yet, she cannot afford to be sick because there would be no one left to help cover her class. Can ECDA ensure that there are sufficient teachers in our preschools to cope with the increased workload? The quality of our preschools depends heavily on the quality and quantity of our childhood educators. For our future generations, we must do more to make early childhood education a choice profession. 6.00 pm Review of ComCare and Public Assistance Schemes”
“Mr Chairman, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on the relationship of many families over the past two years. Prolonged telecommuting work arrangements, home-based learning and, more recently, a spike in Omicron cases among young children are just some examples of how families can be stretched emotionally, physically and mentally. Unfortunately, this is felt most keenly by vulnerable and stressed families. What is the Ministry doing to support families upstream to address stresses early? Can we do more to support couples from the point of marriage? Has MSF seen an increase in the number of family violence cases received by the Family Violence Specialist Centres since the start of the pandemic? Can the Ministry provide an update on the progress in implementing the recommendations by the Taskforce on Family Violence, which were released just last year? Sir, the pandemic has put a strain on the institution of marriage. We should do all we can to support families and strengthen family bonds.”
“Mr Chairman, I have raised on multiple occasions in this House about the importance of ensuring that our workers travel to and from work safely every day. The Government had said that it was reviewing how to enhance the safety of workers ferried in the rear decks of lorries after a spate of traffic accidents last year. I would like to ask whether the Government is considering a ban on the transportation of workers in the rear decks of lorries. Can the Ministry provide an update on this as well as to my earlier suggestions to install speed limiters and seat belts, as interim measures, on lorries used to ferry workers to enhance safety? Sir, we should do all we can to improve the safety of our workers' transport.”
“Can the Ministry provide an update on when construction will resume, if at all, and whether there will be changes to the scope of the project? Lastly, the maritime sector, however, has performed well amidst the pandemic. According to MPA, Singapore was the world's busiest container transhipment port, handling a record high of 37.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container throughput in 2021. We are currently building the Tuas Mega Port which, when fully completed in 2040, will be the world's largest fully-automated terminal with the ability to handle up to 65 million TEUs annually. This is twice our current record high. I would like to ask whether we have oversized the capacity of the Tuas Mega Port and whether the pandemic has delayed its construction timeline. Next Step for Land Transport”
“How does the Ministry intend to tackle this attrition and keep our essential services attractive to Singaporeans? Sir, COVID-19 also highlighted the vulnerability of our public bus workforce. We should build a reserve public bus captain pool, one that can be activated upon short notice to fill urgent manpower gaps. I propose to train taxi drivers to act as reserve bus captains. This reserve force could drive buses once a month to keep their driving skills and route familiarity current so that they can be activated upon an emergency. Two of our public bus operators, SBS Transit and SMRT, have taxi companies within their corporate groups today. I hope LTA can work with the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) to initiate a pilot with these two companies. Review Long-term Infrastructure Projects COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we live, work and play. My concern is whether we need to review our pre-pandemic key planning parameters for our major transport infrastructure projects. According to data from LTA, public transport ridership in 2021 has continued to remain low. There was an average of 5.25 million bus and train trips a day, the second lowest since 2010 and much lower than the record 7.69 million daily trips in 2019. How will the permanent shifts in the way we live and work affect our long-term plans to grow the MRT network? Can the Ministry provide an update on our rail expansion plans, specifically, the Cross Island and Jurong Regional Lines, and whether we need to review the earlier ridership projections for these lines? Our aviation sector, too, has seen a continued slump and the Ministry had announced a two-year pause in Changi Airport Terminal 5's construction.”
“Mr Chairman, the COVID-19 pandemic has a profound impact on our transport workforce across the air, sea and land sectors. First, it is no secret that our aviation sector has been hard hit by the pandemic. But as more vaccinated travel lane arrangements are made and air travel starts to recover, what is the Government's outlook for the aviation sector? Is the worst behind us or are we looking at a long bottom of a U-shape recovery curve? It takes years to train our aviation staff, especially highly-skilled jobs, such as pilots and aircraft technicians. According to MOM's data, our air transport workforce has dropped by about 30%, compared to pre-COVID-19 staffing levels. A well-trained and well-staffed workforce is vital for Singapore to recover our status as a travel hub. How does the Government intend to support the aviation sector and revive Changi Airport's manpower capacity? Are there any plans to increase recruitment to prepare for the return of air travel demand? Our maritime sector, however, has done well amidst the pandemic. Singapore's ports handled a record number of container throughput in 2021. As the sector grows and transforms, what are the Ministry's plans to attract more local workers to join the maritime sector? Has the enhanced Career Conversion Programme for Sea Transport Professionals and Associates been successful in attracting Singaporeans into this growth sector? Lastly, our land transport sector saw more locals joining as bus captains, bus technicians and rail engineers in the past two years, many of whom are mid-career switchers. But as our economy recovers and companies in the hospitality and tourism industries ask ex-staff to return, do we foresee an increase in attrition among our public transport workforce?”
“Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications for Minister of State Tan Kiat How. Today, NTUC has formed Company Training Committees (CTCs) with some Facilities Management (FM) companies. Through these CTCs, we are working very closely with the companies to transform their business operations and upscale their workers, achieving win-win outcomes. 6.45 pm So, my first clarification is whether MND and BCA will work with NTUC and Building and Allied Trades' Union (BATU), that is, our building, construction and timber industries employees' union, to reach out to more FM companies to establish CTCs with them? My second clarification is whether the FM sector, both employers as well as workers, could benefit from adopting Progressive Wage Model (PWM) with its wage and skills ladders, so that we can better attract, retain and develop local professionals in this growing sector?”